


Always a Second Choice

by ripley05



Category: Julie and the Phantoms, jatp - Fandom
Genre: Alex and Luke are ex’s, Angst, M/M, Reggie feels like a third wheel, jatp angst, luke and Reggie angst, my boy just needs some love, reggie angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27103960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ripley05/pseuds/ripley05
Summary: Before they died, Alex and Luke were dating. Of course, they didn’t tell anyone but Reggie knew. And it killed him. The fact that Luke preferred Alex over him tore him apart.And then they all died.They met Julie.Luke started singing with her.Hanging out with her.Preferring her.And it felt like Reggie was dying again.He would always be Luke’s second choice.And that hurt even more than dying.
Relationships: Alex and Luke, Luke Patterson and Alex, Reggie and Luke
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I was sitting in chemistry one day and was like “hey, what if Luke and Alex dated at one point and made Reggie feel like a third wheel?” This is the result of that thought :D (this is my first time writing a jatp fanfic, so please bare with me 😅)

Reggie wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t as dumb as everyone thought he was. 

He had common sense.

He saw what Luke and Alex had. Their connection. It was beautiful.

When they would walk into practice laughing or talking together, Reggie couldn’t help but stare. It made him feel so lonely. Every time he would catch them sneaking glances or softly smiling at each other, he could feel his stomach drop. 

Why Alex? 

Why did Luke look at him like that? 

What was so special about him?

Reggie would just smile and pretend he didn’t see it. After all, he just wanted Luke to be happy. And if he was happy with Alex, then Reggie wouldn’t interfere.

So he continued to watch from afar as the two slowly got closer.

And the more he did, the more he began to feel like a third wheel. 

Sure, Bobby was there, but none of the other band members were ever close with him. He was good at playing music, but he wasn’t the nicest person in the world, so no one ever really hung out with him. 

Therefore, Reggie was stuck with being the odd one out.

He was stuck with watching as they held hands or snuck secret kisses.

And it hurt. It hurt a lot.

Watching your two best friends prefer each other over you was like having your heart ripped out and stomped on. Especially when you had a crush one of those friends.

But then one day, things changed.

Luke and and Alex didn’t walk into practice together.

They didn’t subtly smirk at each other.

Hell, they didn’t even look at each other.

It was like the entire mood of the band changed.

The two of them had a fight.

Reggie thought it was just a one day occurrence. Everything would be back to normal tomorrow. Luke and Alex would walk in holding hands and everyone would be happy again.

Except, that didn’t happen.

Days and days went by and the dark mood continued to hang over the band.

Alex and Luke didn’t speak to each other.

They didn’t look at each other.

They hardly noticed each other.

That’s when it hit Reggie. 

They broke up.

Only then, did Luke start hanging with Reggie. He would only speak to him.

Only sing with him.

Only look at him.

But for some reason, Reggie wasn’t filled with joy. All he ever wanted was to be with Luke. Yet, right now, it just didn’t feel right.

It didn’t feel genuine.

And Reggie knew why.

It was because he was Luke’s rebound.

Luke only came to him because he didn’t have Alex anymore.

He was his second choice.

~

And then, they died.

To be honest, Reggie wanted to go in a much cooler way. Poisoned hot dogs weren’t exactly what he expected.

But, the three of them were together. He got to be with his two best friends, even after death. That’s what mattered.

That’s when they met Julie. 

She was a bit scary at first, but she grew on them. They became friends. They became a real band. And that made Reggie happy.

But then Julie and Luke started to get closer and suddenly Reggie was in the same situation as before.

Luke didn’t want to be with Reggie as much anymore. He wanted to hang out with Julie. 

He wanted to sing with Julie.

He wanted to be with Julie.

And Reggie was left in the dust yet again.

But at first, he had hope. Alex was still here after all! Maybe he didn’t have to be alone this time.

Boy, was he wrong.

Suddenly, Wille was in the picture.

All the free time they had, Alex was with Wille and Luke was with Julie.

Which left Reggie alone in the studio. Again.

Then one day, practice was over and Luke stayed. He hung around after practice as Julie and Alex left.

Was this it? Did Luke finally want to hang out with him? Did he finally care about Reggie?

“Julie’s hanging out with Nick today so it’s just you and me bud.”

Instantly, the spark of hope that Reggie had was gone. The joy he felt for a split second was extinguished.

Luke wasn’t hanging out with Reggie because he wanted to.

He was hanging out with him because he had no one else to be with.

Reggie slumped down slightly, feeling his stomach sink.

“Oh, okay”, he muttered.

Then Luke began to talk, but Reggie didn’t pay attention.

After all, what was the point?

After today, Luke would just ditch him again to be with Julie. 

It was always going to be like this.

Reggie was always going to be Luke’s second choice.


	2. Still His Second Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke notices something is wrong.
> 
> He notices how Reggie suddenly isn’t waiting around for him or anyone else. 
> 
> So he asks him about it.
> 
> And Reggie breaks down...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter of Always a Second Choice (sorry it took me so long hehe:P)

Flynn clapped as the band finished practicing “Stand Tall.”

“That was epic!! I’ll never stop loving that song”, she said as Julie stood up with a chuckle. 

“I’m glad you like it. I know it’s an older song but we really want to perfect it.”

Flynn rolled her eyes.

“It sounds perfect to me, I think your good.”

Julie laughed as she and Flynn made their way to the door.

“Flynn and I are gonna go to the mall for a bit, I’ll see you guys later!”

And then they were gone.

Alex set down his drumsticks.

“I have a-“

“Yeah, yeah a date with Willie. We know Alex”, Luke said with a smirk.

Alex laughed as he waved and poofed out of the studio.

Luke turned to face Reggie.

“Welp, looks like it’s just you and me again Reg.”

The base player rolled his eyes, an unusual move from him. 

“No sorry, it’s just you, I’m heading out.”

Luke tilted his head.

“Going out? Where? Why can’t I come with you?”

Reggie pulled his leather jacket over his arms.

“Uhm, I’d rather be alone. Later.”

And with that, he was gone, leaving a confused Luke standing alone in the studio.

~

Reggie walked along the boardwalk, watching the waves hit the sand. He always found the sound of the ocean rolling to be incredibly relaxing. 

He found a spot in the sand and took a seat, not caring about the lifers that walked through him.

Man, he’d give anything to be alive again.

Living wasn’t the best experience ever, but it was somewhat better than being dead.

At least being alive left you with a wide variety of people to talk to. Being dead was really lonely. I mean sure, he had his band and Julie, but seeing as the all hardly had time for him, Reggie was always left by himself.

Which really, really sucked.

“Woah, hey, you’re the guy from Julie’s band! The bassist right?!”

Reggie froze in place for a moment. What did he just hear..?

He whipped around.

He made eye contact with source of the voice. He stared in shock as the familiar face of Nick looked back at him. 

“A-are you... talking to me..?”

The other individual gave him a questioning look.

“Yeah dude, who else would I be talking to?”

Reggie glanced around.

Nobody else was facing or looking at them.

He looked back at Nick.

“You... can see me?

The other male looked even more confused.

“Um, why wouldn’t I be able to see you?”

Reggie shook his head. There was no way this was real. The only way people could see him was if he was playing with Julie, and he wasn’t doing that right now. Nick shouldn’t be able to see him. It wasn’t possible.

“Julie said you guys didn’t live here. Are you visiting or something?”

Reggie tried to bring himself out of his thoughts as Nick sat down next to him the sand.

The bassist stared at him, still completely dumbfounded. Nothing made sense to him right now. 

Nick chuckled.

“Man, you don’t have very good social skills, do you?” 

Reggie lightly shook his head, still staring at Nick.

“I’m Nick by the way, nice to meet you”, he said with a soft smile.

Reggie couldn’t explain it, but the aura this other male was giving off, made him feel.. comfortable.

It was weird. He only just met the guy, with the exception of seeing him a their concerts every now and then, but he felt like he knew him forever. Like, they met before. Something about his smile felt extremely familiar.

He dropped his hard gaze and returned the smile.

“I’m Reggie.”

~

2 weeks later

“Alrighty guys, nice job! I think we’re done for the day”, Julie said merrily. 

The band set down their instruments.

“So Reggie-“, Luke started, but he was gone.

He frowned.

“Have you guys noticed that Reggie’s been acting weird lately?”

Julie and Alex glanced at Luke.

“Weird? What do you mean?”

Luke sighed.

“Weird as in he’s now always the first one out of practice. A couple of weeks ago he was always the last one here, now we literally only see him at practice. Don’t you find that strange? Like, where does he keep disappearing to?”

Julie shrugged.

“He’s allowed to have free time Luke. Besides, maybe he made a new friend! You know, like how Alex met Willie.”

Alex smiled.

“Yeah, dude. He could’ve met another ghost!”

Luke sat down with a puzzled look on his face.

“But why wouldn’t he tell us about it? Alex told us that he met Willie right away. We’re best friends, he shouldn’t be keeping secrets.”

Julie lightly smacked Luke on the arm.

“I understand that we’re all really close but that doesn’t mean he has to share everything with us. Maybe he’s happy to have something of his own. Don’t intrude on something that makes him happy, Luke.”

The male went silent as he stared at the ground.

Julie made her way to the exit of the garage.

“Flynn and I are going out today, I’ll see you guys later”, she said before opening the door and leaving the studio.

Alex got up from behind his drum set and walked over to Luke, taking a seat next to him.

“Hey, why are you suddenly so concerned about Reggie?”

Luke looked up at him defensively.

“Whadda mean? I’m always worried about him! This isn’t just a sudden thing dude. He’s my friend, I care about him.”

Alex held up his hands.

“Woah woah, that’s not what I meant! I mean, he’s been going off for a couple of weeks now but it never really seemed to bother you, why the sudden concern?” 

Luke shrugged.

“I don’t know... I just don’t understand why he isn’t acting like himself anymore. He doesn’t crack as many jokes during practice, he doesn’t stick around, and he just seems distant. It’s so out of character for him.” 

Alex patted him on the back. 

“So why don’t you ask him about it?”

Luke stared at the ground.

“What would I ask him? ‘Hey Reg, mind telling me why you’re never around anymore and why don’t behave like yourself?’ I’d sound like a controlling asshole.”

Alex shrugged.

“Nah, I think he will understand your concern. No matter how different he is, Reggie is Reggie, and Reggie knows us.”

Luke looked at Alex.

“Maybe your right.”

The blonde male smirked.

“I always am.”

~

11:24 pm

That’s what the clock in the studio read.

“What if he died?”

Alex rolled his eyes.

“Genius, we’re already dead.”

Luke continued to anxiously pace back and forth.

“We should go search for him.”

Alex shook his head.

“Dude, I’m sure he’s fine.”

Luke stopped pacing and faced Alex.

“You don’t know that! He could have gotten lost or kidnapped or something!”

Alex placed a hand over his head. It was hard having a friend who was such an idiot. 

“Man, what’s wrong with you? What don’t you understand about us being ghosts? Who the hell would kidnap him? The ghostbusters?!”

As if on cue, Reggie proofed into the studio.

“Oh, hey guys”, he said in a dull tone.

Luke went off.

“Hey? HEY?! ITS 11:30 AT NIGHT, WE WERE WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU!!!”

Reggie scoffed.

“What are you? My mother?”

Luke grabbed the smaller’s shoulders.

“I don’t have to be your mother to be worried about you!”

He pushed away from Luke.

“Oh please. You? Worried about me? Funny joke.”

Luke took a step back.

“Reggie... what’s wrong? Why are you acting like this? Are you mad at us or something? What happened?”

The other boys had never seen the bassist so angry before. He was normally the sunshine of the group, the one that kept everybody together. 

“What happened? Are you seriously asking me that? Do you really have no idea?”

Luke and Alex stared at him solemnly.

Reggie chuckled sarcastically. He looked at the ground as he spoke again.

“Did you guys really think I didn’t know? When you dated, I mean. Did you think I didn’t notice or something?” 

The two others froze.

He picked up on that?

“I was happy for you guys of course. But I was alone okay? You guys know I didn’t have my parents to go to and I’ve always been an outcast so I was on my own. I was a goddamn third wheel.”

Luke could feel his stomach dropping. Is that really how he felt? Like he couldn’t come to them?

“Reggie I-“

“And then you broke up just before we died! I thought it’d be an awkward third wheel for eternity. But suddenly Julie was in the picture and Luke jumped right on that opportunity”, he said, glaring at the brown haired boy.

“At first I thought maybe this meant Alex and I would hang out more, become closer ya know?”

He switched his gaze to Alex, who had tears pooling in his eyes. 

“But of course not! You went and found someone better! You found Willie! And believe me, I’m so happy for both of you guys, but..”

Reggie couldn’t stop the tears that came out of now where.

“But you both left me alone! AGAIN! A FIFTH FREAKIN WHEEL, THATS WHAT I AM!!”

Luke and Alex both flinched when Reggie yelled.

It was nothing like him.

“SO EXCUSE ME FOR GOING OUT AND TRYING TO FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL ACTUALLY GIVE ME THE TIME OF DAY!!”

And now, everyone in the studio was crying.

Tears poured down Luke’s face as he tried to speak.

“R-Reggie I didn’t know you... why wouldn’t you tell us you felt this way? You could’ve said something, anything, to us..”

Reggie scoffed as he wiped his eyes.

“What would be the point? It’s not like you would’ve cared. If you cared, you wouldn't have made me feel like that in the first place!”

Alex let out a soft sob.

“Reggie please... we had no idea you were t-this hurt.”

He sniffed and shook his head.

“Yeah and that was the problem.”

He stared at the floor, heartbroken.

“Real friends know when each other are hurting. And the fact that you’re only noticing know proves my point.”

He lifted his gaze and stared at Luke.

“I’m always going to be your second choice,  
aren’t I?”


End file.
